2011/01/28: PlanetArk: Japan Says To Work On New Global Climate FrameworkJapan said it aims to propose an alternative to the Kyoto Protocol in coming months, after criticizing the international climate framework as neither using effective technology nor including major emitters. Tokyo will come up with a set of proposals to fight global warming beyond 2012, including bilateral agreements between countries on emission offsets generated by the use of clean-energy technology, government officials said on Thursday.

2011/01/27: BBC: Brazil floods: 8,000 free homes for victimsBrazil says it is going to build 8,000 houses to give free to poor people made homeless by floods and landslides in Rio de Janeiro state this month. President Dilma Rousseff said 6,000 homes would be paid for by the state and federal governments. The other 2,000 would be donated by a consortium of construction companies.

2011/01/24: TerraDaily: ‘Amazing’ Australian floodwaters enter new townsSurging floodwaters broke levees in disaster-hit Australia on Monday to inundate more properties in the southeast, as residents sandbagged homes against the spiralling crisis. Swollen rivers in the southeastern state of Victoria have created a flood zone measuring an estimated 90 kilometres (56 miles) long and 40 kilometres wide, the State Emergency Service said.

2011/01/26: BBC: Pakistan floods crisis is far from over, says OxfamSix months after Pakistan’s worst monsoon floods in 80 years, Oxfam says the crisis is far from over and could even get worse. The UK-based agency says malnutrition levels in the south have soared, and the aid community has only “scratched the surface of human need”. At least 170,000 people remain in relief camps and swathes of land are still under foul water in the south.

2011/01/25: BBC: ClimateGate affair: ‘Learn and move on’, say MPsInquiries into issues raised by 2009’s climate e-mail hack did have flaws, a committee of MPs concludes. But despite questions over remits and omissions, they say it is time to make the changes needed and move on. The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee does not find anything to challenge the prevailing view of human-induced global warming. But it says data should be more open, and rules on how Freedom of Information (FoI) applies to science need reform.

2011/01/27: EurActiv: Scientists thrash out Arctic early warning system detailsScientists at an Arctic tipping point conference in Norway are trying to agree terms for an early warning system that could monitor sudden climate shifts, such as the much-feared melting of glaciers. If the Greenland ice sheet melted completely it would raise global sea levels by about seven metres, and leave many of the world’s coastal cities underwater. “We need leading indicators to see when we are approaching a threshold so that we can stop before we reach it,” Carlos Duarte, a professor at the Spanish Council for Scientific Research, told the conference.

2011/01/25: BBC: Survey to probe Arctic ice meltScientists and explorers will shortly set off on an expedition aiming to discover how Arctic sea ice melts. This year’s Catlin Arctic Survey will focus on the thin layer of water immediately under the floating ice. Arctic ice is melting faster in summer than many computer models predict.

2011/01/24: BBC: Crop warning over China droughtA prolonged dry spell in parts of northern, central and eastern China is threatening both crops and water supplies, Chinese state media says. Shandong province is experiencing its driest weather for 60 years. Half the wheat-growing land there is affected, while almost a quarter of a million people face drinking water shortages, the China Daily said.

2011/01/27: VoxEU: Global food prices and inflation targeting by Luis AV Catão & Roberto ChangRising food prices once again pose central banks a tricky question. How far should they ignore food price inflation? This column suggests that food tends to have stronger predictive power on global inflation cycles than oil. The problem is more severe in emerging markets where consumption basket weights for food are two or three times larger than in rich nations. Central banks should pay close attention.

2011/01/24: BBC: Report: Urgent action needed to avert global hungerA UK government-commissioned study into food security has called for urgent action to avert global hunger. The Foresight Report on Food and Farming Futures says the current system is unsustainable and will fail to end hunger unless radically redesigned. It is the first study across a range of disciplines deemed to have put such fears on a firm analytical footing.

2011/01/23: PhysOrg: Nailing down a crucial plant signaling systemPlant biologists have discovered the last major element of the series of chemical signals that one class of plant hormones, called brassinosteroids, send from a protein on the surface of a plant cell to the cell’s nucleus. Although many steps of the pathway were already known, new research from a team including Carnegie’s Ying Sun and Zhiyong Wang fills in a missing gap about the mechanism through which brassinosteroids cause plant genes to be expressed. Their research, which will be published online by Nature Cell Biology on January 23, has implications for agricultural science and, potentially, evolutionary research.

2011/01/30: CBC: Cyclone [Anthony] makes way to northeastern AustraliaA cyclone is racing toward Australia’s flood-ravaged northeast, rattling nerves throughout a region that has already suffered billions of dollars worth of damage from the crisis. Cyclone Anthony intensified to a Category 2 storm Sunday with winds of 130 km/h. It was expected to cross the Queensland state coast early Monday morning.

While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

2011/01/24: NYT:CW: Scenario to Cap World Emissions by 2020 Is Fading Fast, Warns IEA EconomistFrom his perch as chief economist for the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol is virtually shouting his global warming predictions from the Paris rooftops. Unless the United States, Europe, China, India and the other emerging economies get on a crash course to slash greenhouse gases, Birol contends, world leaders can simply forget about one of their oft-talked-about goals: stabilizing the average global temperature rise at 2 degrees Celsius.

2011/01/27: PhysOrg: Geobiologists uncover links between ancient climate change and mass extinctionAbout 450 million years ago, Earth suffered the second-largest mass extinction in its history — the Late Ordovician mass extinction, during which more than 75 percent of marine species died. Exactly what caused this tremendous loss in biodiversity remains a mystery, but now a team led by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has discovered new details supporting the idea that the mass extinction was linked to a cooling climate.

2011/01/25: WMO: El Niño/La Niña Update — Current Situation and OutlookA significant La Niña episode continues in the tropical Pacific Ocean, with effects extending into adjacent ocean basins. Atmospheric indicators show this episode to be one of the strongest of the last century, while oceanic indicators have been at moderate to strong levels. La Niña conditions are likely to continue through the first quarter of 2011…

2011/01/24: BBC: Costly Euro space laser reviewedEuropean scientists are being asked whether they still want to go ahead with a pioneering space laser mission. The Earthcare satellite would study the role clouds and atmospheric particles play in a changing climate. But difficulties in developing the spacecraft’s lidar instrument mean the cost of the venture will likely rise from 450m to 590m euros (£500m). A review is therefore taking place to assess the science value and technical risks of proceeding.

2011/01/27: BBC: Brazil approves start of Belo Monte dam constructionBrazil’s environment agency, Ibama, has given the go-ahead for initial work to begin on a huge hydroelectric dam on a tributary of the Amazon River. Ibama approved the clearing of forest [238 hectares] at the planned site for the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant. Licences still have to be granted for the actual building of the plant.

2011/01/24: Yahoo:AFP: Forest accords not saving trees, expertsInternational accords on saving vulnerable forests are having little impact because they do not attack the core causes such as growing demand for biofuels and food crops, a new report said. With Africa and South American alone losing 7.4 million hectares (18.3 million acres) of forest a year, the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) said a drastic change of policy is needed by the United Nations and governments.

2011/01/24: Independent(UK): Scientists face ‘shocking levels’ of vilification over discoveriesScientists are being subjected to shocking levels of personal vilification and distrust, Britain’s most senior scientist has warned. Sir Paul Nurse, the new president of the Royal Society, Britain’s national academy of sciences, urged scientists to take on those critics who have cast doubt on the veracity of scientific discoveries ranging from the link between climate change and man-made carbon dioxide to the benefits of GM crops. Sir Paul said many scientists felt under attack from critics in the blogosphere and the mainstream media, but rather than retreating into their ivory towers they needed to speak directly to the people who paid their wages.

2011/01/24: EurActiv: Europe votes to ban industrial gas creditsCarbon credits gained by destroying controversial HFC-23 and nitrous oxide industrial gases will be banned from Europe’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) after a vote by EU member-state representatives. Environmental campaigners hailed the move as a “milestone” in upholding the ETS’s integrity. The ban will come into effect in April 2013.

2011/01/28: ABC(Au): Protesters sued under victim compensation lawsA New South Wales coal company has been accused of misusing victims compensation laws to prosecute seven climate change activists. More than 40 protesters broke into Newcastle’s coal terminal in September last year, climbing onto ship loaders and shutting down coal loading for several hours. Seven members of the group are now being pursued for over $500,000 in lost profits by the coal loader operator, Port Waratah Coal Services.

2011/01/25: Guardian(UK): The price of undercover sex in the policeSexual manipulation of climate activists appears to have been a deliberate police tactic, and demands a public inquiry Since police infiltration of the climate change movement was first revealed, a number of female activists have disclosed that they slept, and formed loving relationships, with men they subsequently discovered to be undercover officers.

2011/01/26: HuffPo: Skepticgate: Revealing Climate Denialists for What They AreGreenpeace USA’s lead researcher Kert Davies just broke the story about a congressional investigation requested by Rep. Waxman that may finally put the climate denial machine under the microscope. This by all reckoning is a real “climategate” – a genuinely scandalous story in which a scientist who testified before Congress hid the fact that he was funded largely by corporate interests. But will it get the same airplay that the now debunked “climategate” story enjoyed?

2011/01/26: BBC: Forest sale plans draw mixed reactionsThe government is to publish its consultation on selling off tracts of publicly-owned forests in England. The plan has been greeted with anger by campaigners, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Judi Dench and Bill Bryson among signatories of a letter calling the sale “unconscionable”. But the government says nature and rights of access will be protected. The plan could lead to the sale of all land in England owned by the Forestry Commission, totalling 2,500 sq km. Forests in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are not affected.

2011/01/24: EurActiv: Czech minister: ‘Fairer’ CAP not good enoughEastern European countries have waited long enough to get their fair share of the EU’s farm budget, said Ivan Fuksa, the Czech agriculture minister, in an interview with EurActiv.cz. He dismissed European Commission proposals for an additional transition period to even out differences in payments between ‘new’ and ‘old’ EU members.

2011/01/28: ABC(Au): Climate policy: Gillard puts it all on blackNews of a freakish reversal of direction in Australian climate policy is not, in itself, particularly stunning any more; this policy area is prone to more rethinks than Lady Gaga’s day wardrobe.But what Julia Gillard did at yesterday’s National Press Club address is nonetheless pretty staggering.Her cool public slaughter of about $1.3 billion in clean energy incentives could be described in several different ways.Rudd-era greenies might call it “rat-f***ing.”Ms Gillard herself would call it “Seeing what needs to be done, and doing it.”I’d call it: “Putting It All On Black”.

2011/01/27: BBC: Australia floods: PM Julia Gillard unveils new taxAustralia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced a new tax to help pay for devastating floods that she says will cost A$5.6bn ($5.6bn; £3.5bn) in reconstruction. Ms Gillard said the 12-month tax, starting from 1 July, would be levied on those earning A$50,000 or more, and those affected by floods would not pay.

2011/01/27: ABC(Au): Griffith Mayor calls for PM to intervene on planThe Mayor of Griffith has called on the Prime Minister to admit the Guide to the Murray Darling Basin Plan was wrong and extend the deadline for its release. Mike Neville addressed Tony Windsor’s committee, examining the socio-economic affects of the proposed cuts, in front of about 1000 people on Tuesday.

2011/01/29: RadioNZ: Govt to formalise reduction in greenhouse gasesThe Government is to make law a planned 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2050. Environment Minister Nick Smith announced the move on Saturday at the National Party’s environment forum in Akaroa. The Government proposes to gazette the reduction under the Climate Change Response Act 2002, thus passing it into law.

2011/01/24: TerraDaily: India environment minister [Jairam Ramesh] rejects ‘Dr No’ tagIndia’s environment minister sought Monday to reassure corporate leaders that he was pro-industry, saying he did not want to be known as the “Dr No” for blocking economic development. Jairam Ramesh, whose push to block projects threatening the environment has put him on a collision course with big business and cabinet colleagues, said he understood the need for industrialisation to create jobs. “I am not Dr No,” Ramesh told a corporate forum, referring to the nickname given to him by critics of his proactive green policies.

2011/01/28: IBTimes: China to import more fuels despite clean energy driveChina will ramp up conventional fuel imports and production to power its economy in 2011 despite accelerating efforts to develop clean, renewable and alternative energy. The National Energy Administration (NEA) estimated on Friday that energy demand in the world’s second largest economy will increase steadily but the growth could moderate from last year. It did not provide an estimate of overall energy demand this year or energy used last year.

2011/01/24: OpenDem: Tunisia and the world: roots of turmoilThe uprising in Tunisia is at once a response to systemic inequity and injustice and an expression of the limits of elite control. But to the economic and political ingredients of the revolt must be added the potent if less evident one of global environmental crisis.

2011/01/26: G&M: Does Peter Kent even care about emissions?It was a pity, although quite predictable, that new Environment Minister Peter Kent should have leaped to defend the oil sands even before being briefed by his department. Mr. Kent was briefed, of course — by the Prime Minister’s Office, where the lines had been scripted for the oil sands’ new song-and-dance man.

2011/01/26: PostMedia: Minister rejects national cap-trade systemCanada’s new environment minister, Peter Kent, is rejecting the advice of a government advisory panel that has urged him to moved ahead with made-in-Canada climate change policies, despite uncertainty about United States measures and regulations. In a report titled Parallel Paths: Canada-U. S. Climate Policy Choices, the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy said Tuesday that Canada’s plan to harmonize its climate change policies with the U.S. is “sensible and realistic.” But it also recommended the government implement transitional measures, such as the introduction of a national cap-and-trade system in which large industrial polluting companies would be required to buy credits from greener companies that are reducing emissions at a price set by the market.

2011/01/26: TSun: G20 suspect admits to breaking bailAn accused key organizer of the violent G20 demonstrations admitted he violated his bail conditions by participating in a peaceful rally at Ryerson University in September. Alex Hundert, 30, was released on bail on July 19, 2010, after his sureties pledged $100,000. One condition stipulated that Hundert “not plan for, or assist in the planning for, participate in, or attend at any public demonstration or protest.” On Friday Hundert pleaded guilty to one count of breach of bail and was sentenced to 30 days time served. He was released on the same conditions.

2011/01/27: TStar: SIU reopens third G20 caseThe province’s police watchdog has reopened a third case alleging police brutality during the G20 summit after new video and still images have surfaced. Joseph Thomson’s case was one of the original six G20 cases investigated and subsequently closed by the SIU at the end of November because there wasn’t enough evidence to lay charges against a single officer.

2011/01/26: BBC: G20 charges dropped against Canadian womanCharges have been dropped against a Canadian artist who was accused of possessing explosives and dangerous weapons in connection with Toronto’s G20 summit. Kristen Peterson was charged in June 2010, a day after her partner, computer programmer Byron Sonne, was arrested. Mr Sonne remains in jail on charges including intimidation and threats against the justice system.

2011/01/25: G&M: Break from U.S. and put price on carbon, Ottawa toldThe Harper government should move ahead with “made-in-Canada” climate change regulations — including a price on carbon dioxide emissions — rather than wait for the United States to act, a government-appointed advisory panel recommends. In a report Tuesday, the national Roundtable on the Environment and Economy argues Canada would enhance its economic competitiveness if it acted now so as to avoid more costly actions later.

2011/01/28: CBC: Oilsands mine approval condemnedEnvironmental groups Friday condemned a decision by a joint federal-provincial regulatory panel to conditionally approve a new oilsands project in northern Alberta. On Thursday, the Joint Review Panel outlined 20 conditions related to the environmental and technical aspects of the Joslyn North mine Total E&P Canada is proposing to build 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray. The mine is due to start up in 2017 and produce 100,000 barrels of bitumen per day over its 20-year life. There are now four oilsands mines in operation. The panel said the project would have “no significant adverse effect” on wildlife and water quality and would meet targets on reducing waste, known as tailings, from the oilsands extraction process.

2011/01/29: CBC: Alberta aims for single oil and gas regulatorEnergy associations in Alberta are applauding the province’s move to set up a single regulator for the oil and gas sector. The province plans to set up one regulatory body that will make all decisions about land, water licences and environmental assessments. The move will streamline the application process, which currently requires companies to go through the Energy Resources Conservation Board, followed by Alberta Environment, Sustainable Resource Development and Alberta Energy. The province says the change will make the process for approvals faster, making Alberta’s oil industry more competitive.

2011/01/24: Manitoba: First Spring Flood Outlook for ManitobaManitoba Water Stewardship’s first spring flood outlook indicates the 2011 spring flood potential is high for much of Manitoba including the Red, Souris, Pembina, Assiniboine, Winnipeg, Saskatchewan and Fisher rivers and the Interlake. High river flows, above-normal snow-water content in the snowpack, and an expected cooler and wetter spring have increased the probabilities of significant flooding. With average weather along the Red River, a flood the size of 2009 is anticipated while unfavourable weather could result in a flood of 1997 levels. With average weather along other rivers and streams in Manitoba, flooding is still anticipated and, with unfavourable weather, significant flooding could occur.

2011/01/25: TStar: Ontario’s $7B green energy contract details still secret: NDPThe provincial government is still hiding the exact costs and details of a historic green energy deal that convinced Samsung to invest $7 billion in the province, says the NDP. The Ontario, Samsung and Korea Electric Power Corporation deal forms the backbone of the government’s green energy plan to bring solar and wind power jobs to the province. It ensures four clean energy manufacturing plants will be built in Ontario, bringing with them thousands of new jobs.

2011/01/24: PhysOrg: Electric vehicle capabilities way ahead of policy, infrastructure needsThe technologies needed to begin seriously weaning the U.S. transportation system away from petroleum and toward alternatives such as hybrid and pure electric vehicles have made great progress, but harnessing them on a scale that would significantly lower greenhouse-gas emissions or oil imports is complicated by issues of choosing the right policies and of implementing needed infrastructure improvements.

My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk(which includes some quotations), An overview of my writing is available here.